May 17, 2012 11:47 am

Receiver Doug Baldwin and free safety Earl Thomas were made available to reporters after the Seattle Seahawks conditioning workout this morning.

The Seahawks went through drills for about 45 minutes outside at the VMAC.

Seattle’s first OTAs begin next week, when the team will have a Tuesday through Thursday session.

Baldwin talked about avoiding a sophomore slump after leading the Seahawks in receptions last season, and says he sets the bar high and puts a lot of pressure on himself to exceed expectations.

“One of my biggest things I keep hearing from people is not to have a sophomore slump,” Baldwin said. “So one of my biggest things right now is to be perfect every day. Right now I’m working on my third perfect day with no drops and no missed assignments. So, not at all, I think I have so much more to prove and so much more I’m capable of.”

Baldwin would like to prove he’s a complete receiver and not a person who can only play in the slot. But the Stanford product said the team has not talked to him playing on the perimeter as an outside receiver.

“Obviously I would love to play outside,” he said. “That’s where I played in college. But like I said, whatever role they ask me to do, my job is to be consistent and do well at it.”

Thomas, who was voted No. 66 on the NFL Network’s Top 100 players in 2012, says neither he or his teammates are worried about accolades nationally. As long they play well everything else will take care of itself.

“I just want to win games,” Thomas said. “I don’t want to set the standard for anything. I just want to go out there and play to the best of our ability, and see what happens. I’m all about winning, and everybody around here is all about winning. We just want to compete and see what happens.”

Some tidbits

* Quarterbacks Tavaris Jackson and Russell Wilson noticeably absent today, as well as running back Marshawn Lynch and defensive end Chris Clemons. Defensive tackle Alan Branch and receiver Golden Tate were in attendance after being absent in the one practice day we were allowed to view last week.

I wouldn’t take anything away from players not being here. They are not required to attend, and it’s pretty common for players to take off to attend to personal affairs during the offseason.

* Cornerback Donny Lisowski has a new number – 38 – and again worked some on offense, with Mike Williams going over the playbook and how to work out of breaks with him along the sideline.

* James Carpenter continues to show incremental progress six months after ACL knee surgery. The Alabama product again worked on stance and starts off to the side, but was taking a reach step coming out of his stance and putting some pressure on his knee.

* Rookie Bobby Wagner worked with the first unit at middle linebacker, flanked by outside linebackers K.J. Wright and Leroy Hill.

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About

Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

I think one of the most important things about this year is that we have the same offensive coordinator.That’s gonna keep help the Hawks get rolling faster not having to learn another offense.We just need a QB that can help the Hawks get into the end zone instead of always having to kick field goals.

^^^ speed, speed, speed. 4.38 at the combine or something like that. I think they are checking where ever they might be able to get a guy on the field that has the combination of tangibles (size, speed, whatever) and intangibles (effort, smarts, hustle, etc) that they think benefits the team.

Seems like BMW is again proving his value as a leader on this team, coaching up young guys like Lisowski. Last year he did the same when helping to teach Lockette the playbook. I’ve criticized Williams for what looked (to me) like marginal effort at times last year, but he’s a team player.

Baldwin’s response to the slot receiver question was what really struck me about his intelligence. It was a leading question just looking for a sound byte, but gave a very good thoughtful and honest answer with specific examples to back it up. It shows he’s been watching film of other teams and other positions.

I don’t know anything about Lisowski, but is WR really the best move for him and the team? They already have a bunch of fast and unpolished WRs on the team so I don’t see any reason to add to that. Given his CB background, I’d think a switch to FS would give him a better chance to make the team and provide depth behind Thomas.

Seems like if the WRs wanted any work with their QB that they had to go to Alabama to work with him. I’m glad we have someone now that will seem to stick around Seattle (even if he’s also not from there) in the off-season and not want to miss a minute of work. I’d like for Wilson to be there, but he may be finishing some stuff at school? I don’t know. All I know is that Flynn is there and he’s who I care about the most!

baldwin is as impressive as it gets, im so glad he is a seahawk…great role model.

i absolutely agree with PHX, i can’t believe that ANY of the qb’s on this roster iare missing reps. they would have to drag my butt out of the building. reps are going to be hard to come by very soon, to voluntarily miss them is not wise.

i disagree with eric saying he wouldn’t take anything away from the players missing days to take care of personal matters during the offseason…there is plenty of offseason, the new cba has made sure of it. i just feel like they (from top to bottom) should be very eager to be there at this point.

If a guy like Earl Thomas misses a day or two, I don’t think it’s a big deal. He’s entrenched as a starter.

However, if you’re fighting for a job, I don’t know why you’d miss (unless it was something like attending the funeral of someone close – that’s obviously an exception to the rule).

One thing I value is guys who are dedicated. I love how in the last week we’ve read things like Earl Thomas texting Bradley about how to get into the facility to watch film at night or him watching the rookie mini-camp to see the new picks (like Irvin).

I love dedication like ET has shown (and Baldwin). I also love how Flynn talked about how he’s moving to Seattle (hot girlfriend coming with). At least WRs won’t have to travel to Alabama if they want to work with him when they are playing for the NFL team in Seattle.

Yeah, I’d be willing to bet its a school thing with Wilson. Like xcman said, even guys like Luck have had to miss days because of school. It’s something to do with the school being in a quarter system instead if a semester schedule (something there was no need to worry about last year with no true offseason). As for TJack, it seems like if there’s one guy that should definitely be here, it’s him, but oh well more reps for Flynn and that’s what’s important.

Oh and BTW, Baldwin is very quickly becoming one of my favorite Hawks, how can you not live that guy!!

Baldwin is easily becoming one of my favorite players. Very likeable guy (and my Facebook friend)! Not only does he perform on the field very well, he is obviously very intelligent and well spoken. Something that tends to be missing in the way most receivers speak.

Baldwin’s not simply well spoken (and composed) for a receiver or football player or athlete, but for anyone. I wish even half the people I encountered over the course of a day, were more like Baldy, in that regard.

“The football gods are watching, so you have to pay your respect and put in the work like you’re supposed to,” Irvin said. “Football saved my life. I’m going to bust my butt and work hard in everything I do. I’d rather die than prove [the doubters] right.”

Canfan – Thank you for passing that along. Great piece (although Dillon is mistaken that Brock played Leo for Seattle, on passing downs, last season. Brock was the strong side end, but more importantly, Seattle did not run an under front much at all last season, which is a requirement for a Leo. Otherwise it’s simply a weak-side end. Regardless…) My favorite quote from the article was this:

“But as general manager John Schneider put it, the Seahawks draft for themselves, not for the rest of the league.” Honeybadger, indeed.

Starting with Baldwin; I’m really getting excited about this years group of receivers! I think either locket or Durham have the potential to be big time contributors. And if Rice stays healthy, and Williams plays to his potential, the sky is the limit! Also, when you include Tate, Obomanu and Butler, I think we have a pretty solid and deep group this season.

I would caution against expecting “big things” from Lockette or Durham this year. They will be second year receivers who, on average, tease with their potential (with, granted, some solid production) and then are ready to rock in year three. Tate is the guy to watch “explode” onto the scene this season, IMO. He simply needs to look in the mirror, work hard, and put it all together. He’s out of “potential” excuses, now is the time to take that next step and become an important factor in the passing game.

I’m totally in favor of Sidney Rice staying healthy because he’s really good when he plays, but after him I’m a little worried that all of the receivers are about the same and none of them are particularly good. A lot of great competition will squeeze the best four or five totally mediocre guys to the top of a shallow pool.

I’d love to see a top flight #2 guy emerge, but they all look like versatile guys with different skill sets and potential rather than actual talent. Maybe I’m just over reacting to the Jordan Kent saga.

As far as that goes, I feel about the same way about the O-line. I’ve got more faith in Tom Cable than the guys he coaches.

But I don’t know who the receivers coach is. I mean I know his name is Kippy Brown, and I can read his bio, but who is this guy? What’s the reason I should think he’s going to turn a track guy into a deep threat? Or a really soft and slow big guy with great hands into an actual 3rd down option. I want to believe. Really.

I got my Sidney Rice shirsey from seahawks.com last week and will say that it looks better (i.e. cooler) than I thought it would. We’re all resistent to change, but it’s growing on me.

I’m still a little upset though that my Matt Flynn infant jersey hasn’t come yet for my little guy when the website says they are now available! He needs to start wearing Seahawks clothing NOW!!! I predict a Baldwin jersey in the near future, too.

Here’s hoping Lockette, or, eh, Lah-Ket, will break out and follow the trend of guys emerging from nowhere on this roster. But someone should put an arm around Ch. 83 and tell him the walk comes before the talk. I’m not ready for Ochocinco Jr. just yet.

I think they are doing the best they can with the hand they are dealt. Remember, they went after Peyton Manning about as hard as they, seemingly, could. They weren’t trying to buck the QB trend, they were trying to be part of it but it didn’t work out that way so they’re making the best out of a bad situation. They have proven they are quite flexible in doing whatever necessary in building this team. Not all of their moves have been perfect, but they have been pretty darn impressive as a whole. I’m “in” and I am pretty hard to please with respect to the Seahawks!

That reminds me, it will be sweet if our record is better than Denver’s and if we go farther in the playoffs. Primadonna didn’t even want to speak to PC & JS. At least he could have briefly met with them and said “hey, I’m honored that you think highly of my skills, but the old lady hates the rain”.
Would that have been too hard?

I think each one of our recievers has a different skillset so as to create mismatches that are a nightmare to cover. Even BMW may have a bounce back season after we send him out to catch jump balls.
We didn’t have anyone to put the ball where it needs to be, although Rice has been injured if he’s healthy he’s a true #1, Lockette has brutal potential we even have rookies that may surprise. The only guy that really needs to step up is Golden Tate.

I’ve watched those videos and to be honest I think CH. 83 is not really that arrogant but instead uses that as a form of comedy. the way he turned and asked very smart and pointed questions to Ch. 89 shows that he is MUCH smarter than perceived.
Much in the same way the Beasts stand offish scowling at Mikerob’s camera is an act.

Duke you really should watch those real rob reports. really neat to see the guys being themselves as opposed to the standard media answer machines you usually get to see.

Soggybuc, I wholeheartedly agree about Richardo Lockette and the other players on the Real Rob Report. And also following them on twitter, I think they’re a good group of guys who like to be corny.

I want Richardo Lockette to have a certain amount of confidence or swagger, as long as he’s working hard and learning. From what I have read about him, he seems to be doing it all.

On the same note, if anyone missed the John Clayton show today and specifically the Gus Bradley interview you should check out the podcast on my northwest.com. It’s a must listen if you’re jonesing for real Hawks talk that will get you juiced.

Lol. Yes, it’s been a quite weekend, but this has been, far and away, the most active offseason, this blog has seen in many years. OTAs start this week so there will be plenty to talk about.

One thing Bradley said that jumped out to me, was that they like Wright shifting to Mike in nickel. They love him at Sam but allowing him to kick to Mike in nickel makes him a 3 down ‘backer, which is awesome. It will be interesting to see how they use he and Wagner. Who will be the nickel LB? It likely won’t be Hill with Smith and Wagner’s speed. I’ll be curious if they end up simply shifting Wright and Wagner over to Mike and Will. They did after all run nickel 60% of all defensive snaps last season.

Oh no, how dare you post a bleacherreport! Lol. Perhaps those that find the bleacherreport insulting would take a loooooong look in the mirror and find that they are pretty much at the same level if not lower( in an NFL contributing way) than some of those that contribute to the bleacher report!

OK I just finished 5 pages of Peter King MMQ and his story on English Cricket….The only thing I found of interest in the column,(and we on this blog should probably keep it in mind this week), was this….

8. I think, not to be negative about reporting on the perimeter of offseason practices 197 days from the start of the NFL season, I wouldn’t get too caught-up from breathless pronouncements from Organized Team Activities around the NFL beginning today.

Of course Pete Carroll could never be described as breathless could he?

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